Lasko FHV820 Heater Died, How to Fix Under $2

Has your Lasko FHV820 Heater (or other similar tower style fan or ceramic heater) suddenly died? As in, one day it worked and the next it just won’t turn on? No lights on at all and no buttons working? Remote doesn’t work either?

In this quick DIY post I’ll cover what tools and parts you need to diagnose and fix the main potential cause. Did I mention this repair was CHEAP and EASY? That’s right, under $2 in parts. I’ll also show you what I think caused the issue that and how to prevent it from occurring again.

Warning: Perform any repair at your own risk. Also consider the warranty and liability effects on the product from any manufacturer or any other interested party.

*This post contains affiliate links, meaning that I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you when you make a purchase through these links. Thank you!*

Diagnosis

Diagnosis steps: first follow typical electronics troubleshooting. Is it plugged in? Does the outlet it’s plugged into have appropriate power? Then Lasko recommends to unplug for 10-15 minutes to let the unit cool and “reset” then to plug into a different outlet in a different room. None of these steps resolved my issue.

As any good DIY’er would do, I took to the internet and specifically youtube to find other common issues with this style of heater. While I didn’t find anything on this specific model, I was able to learn that there is an internal fuse in most tower heaters. By FIRST UNPLUGGING then taking the tower apart until I found the fuse, I could then test the fuse that caused my Lasko FHV820 heater to die.

Testing the fuse can be done two ways – 1, the proper way would be to see if there is continuity (lack of resistance) across the fuse with a multimeter. No continuity. 2, the quick and dirty way (DANGEROUS) would be to use a jumper wire across the fuse to complete the circuit temporarily and see if the unit turns on. BEEP! It works! This is not a long term solution since the fuse MUST be used to prevent damage to other components, prevent fire, etc. Test at your own risk.

Tools and Parts

To take this particular fan apart, you may get lucky and be able to cheat the torx head screws out with a small flat blade screwdriver but you could save yourself a lot of headache by using the right tools for the job. You either have them already or could use them again. Ultimately these cost less than a new heater and will pay for themselves in future jobs as well.

• Long t15 torx driver
• Phillips head screwdriver
• Soldering iron
• Small needle nose pliers
• Digital multimeter (optional, but awesome for many projects)
• Replacement Fuse

Obviously check that your amperage, voltage, and physical sizing of the specific fuse in your model match. There was a review on this fuse that said it worked for someone else’s tower heater so I bought with confidence! Also as a 5 pack, it meant that if I screwed up the repair or it happens again I have spares. Since I already have the tools from previous DIY projects, total cost was under $10 or ~$2 for one fuse.

Disassembly and Repair

We need to get to the fuse. To do this we first pull out the two filter panels (more on these later), then loosen 4 black t15 torx screws on each side (8 total) of the motor inlet covers and remove the covers. They are marked “L” and “R” for left and right, with little tabs that only allow them to be installed as such. Set aside. Put your loose screws in cup or parts bin for safe keeping.

Then remove the remaining 21 black t15 torx screws from the back panel of the unit. This is where having the long reach t15 torx driver comes in really handy! Carefully peel the back cover off the unit and set aside. I left the screws in the deep screw wells, and the shallow edge screw went into my parts bin until reassembly.

Next, unscrew the 4 silver Phillips head screws that hold the motor/blower assembly down to the front face of the housing (not pictured). Do not remove motor or electrical connections, just lift it slightly. This may not be necessary but it helped me access the screws that hold on the circuit board. Finally, remove the 2 silver Phillips head screws that hold the circuit board to the side of the motor/blower assembly. All of the wires can stay connected, we simply need to be able to access the back side of the board for the next step.

Now you’re down to the failed component that caused your Lasko FHV820 heater (or similar tower style fan) to stop working, and should look something like this.

Now get your soldering iron good and hot. Carefully hold the tip onto the backside of the circuit board where one side of the fuse pin is poking through, while pulling on that same pin from the front side. As soon as the solder melts you can pull that pin out. Repeat with second side.

Cut your leads on new fuse to length (the little snippers on the pliers work just fine), then using the needle nose pliers to hold the fuse, press each lead through the hole in the board and into the solder pile on the back side as you reheat the solder again. Repeat with other lead. You may need to add more solder if the glob dripped away from the lead. Be careful not to unsolder or bridge any other contacts. You can test that the unit will turn on at this point before reassembling.

Reassembly and Test

Reassembly is reverse of disassembly

• Reassemble 2 silver Phillips head screws to hold circuit board onto the motor/blower assembly
• Reassemble 4 silver Phillips head screws to attach motor/blower assembly to front panel
• Reassemble 21 black t15 torx screws to attach back panel
• Reassemble 8 black t15 torx screws to attach both left and right side filter grates to the motor/back panel. These grates will only fit one way on their respective sides

Prevention

My Lasko FHV820 heater died, and I didn’t want that to happen again. So as any good electrician would ask when a fuse is blown – why did it blow in the first place? That’s the root cause that needs to be corrected. Sure the fuse needs to be replaced to get the unit running but what would prevent it from happing again?

Some cases documented online were “bad” power sources. Maybe a power surge or damaged or improperly installed wall outlets? They may work most of the time but at some point had an intermittent failure that caused the fuse in the heater to blow. These would require further investigation.

In my case – it was most likely my own doing. I don’t recall ever cleaning the filters on this fan/heater combo. In fact I didn’t even know there were filters until I started to take it apart. You can see here that dust has accumulated, pretty much blocking off air intakes to the motor/blower assembly. With restriction in the intake, the motor has to work harder, drawing more current, and eventually blowing the main fuse.

So with a simple periodic cleaning of the filter screens we should be able to avoid this failure mode again! Thanks for following along!